New Deal Festival Features Events and Activities for All Ages
Step back in time for Arthurdale Heritage’s New Deal Festival. The festival opens at 10 am Saturday, July 8th with live music, antique car, truck, and tractor show, craft show, homemade food, kids activities, museum tours, a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt and much more.
“Arthurdale was the first federally built community during the Great Depression and construction began in 1933. Our activities are not just fun but also show life in the 1930s and tell the important history of Arthurdale. Visitors get a chance to meet Eleanor Roosevelt plus talk with people whose parents were original homesteaders,” said Darlene Bolyard, Arthurdale Heritage Executive Director.
One of the most popular events at the New Deal Festival is the antique car, truck, and tractor show. Guests can check under the hood of some of Detroit’s classiest machines from the 1920s all the way to hot-rods and muscle cars from the 1960s and ‘70s. The show, hosted by the Arthurdale Tirekickers Club, also features antique tractors, including a restored tractor manufactured at the Reedsville Co-Op Tractor Factory.
Youngsters can enjoy old fashioned games and activities in the festival’s supervised kid’s area. There is also a farm petting zoo with friendly farm animals including donkeys, chickens, a calf, and the famous Arthurdale goats. The barn cats and Great Pyrenees dogs will be excited to make new friends! Have a wild and wonderful time with the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia’s Bird Ambassadors and Friends of Decker’s Creek fun hands on activity.
Climb aboard a horse-drawn wagon and travel through Arthurdale for a look at the history of the community. Or choose an old-fashioned hay ride.
Step back in time and meet First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (portrayed by History Alive actor Patty Cooper) and take historic selfies with the 1930’s photo booth including vintage tools, clothing, and hats. Visit the temporary exhibit on Depression era feedsacks in the E-15 Homestead with WVU Librarian Anna Schein.
Four bands play throughout the festival – 18 Strings, Soup Camel, Aurora Celtic, & Matt Fields – with music ranging from the blues to country to folk-rock to jazz. Details and performance times are on the website www.newdealfestival.org
Gates open at 10 am. Tickets are sold at the gate: $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 5-11. Kids under 5 are free. Parking is free. Advance tickets can be purchased online at: http://www.newdealfestival.org
The festival is presented with financial assistance from the WV Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts.
